WEATHER IN THAILAND
Thailand can be divided in 2 climatic zones. The climate north of Bangkok has a climate with 3 seasons and the southern peninsular area of Thailand has only two seasons. The weather is tropical and humid during most of the year.
The three seasons in the north of Thailand including Bangkok are as follows: rainy, from June to October; cool, from November to February; and hot of highest temperatures and sunny weathers from March to May.
Temperatures in Bangkok vary between 20 °C (68 °F) in December and 38 °C (100 °F) in April. The average humidity is 82 percent. Winter temperatures in the north can fall to approximately 10 °C (50 °F) or lower. The average rainfall in these regions is 1,250 cm per year.
A tropical rain-forest climate, warm temperatures and rain all year around can be found in the southern area of Thailand. The average temperature is 28 °C (82 °F) throughout the year. The most tourists visit Phuket in December and it is the coolest month of the year. March and April are usually the driest months in the south. Southwest monsoons arrive between May and July and signal the beginning of the rainy season, which lasts into October. Although the clouds reduce the temperature it is still hot and sticky. The rainy season is different on the east and west side of the peninsular. On the west coast it rains from April to October and on the east coast from September to December.
If the wind changes its direction, dry weather from the northeast comes into the country and the rain stops. The rain falls during the rainy season are unpredictable and not the constant downpour of rain like you would expect. That means, many days during the rainy season are completely free of rain. If you visit Thailand you can expect for the middle of the rainy season a steady downpour at night, clear or overcast mornings and some rain in the afternoon.
You can find the current weather and the 7-day weather forecast for most of Thailand’s coastal regions on the ‘Windguru’ website. Simply enter ‘windguru Phuket’ in the Google search. This website contains information about wind direction, wind speed, wave height, wave direction, etc. It is useful to know if you plan a sailing trip for the next days.